You are here:

You can’t teach your child to defend themselves

Any moment now, politicians in Des Moines are going to be voting on a bill that would continue to make you a criminal for deciding when you can teach your son or daughter how to shoot a handgun for self-defense!

In fact, I expect a vote in the House Public Safety Committee as soon as tomorrow on HF2012 – which is why your immediate action is necessary. More on that in a minute.

While you may not know it, Iowa code section 724.22 section 5, allows you to be criminally prosecuted if you teach your child to shoot a handgun beneath a certain age!

That’s right, politicians in Des Moines have taken it upon themselves to decide when you, parents or grandparents, can teach your own children how to defend themselves from a violent criminal attack.

I don’t know about you, but I fondly remember the first time I shot a pistol at the county shooting range near my hometown in NW Iowa under my Dad’s watchful eye. It was freezing cold, the middle of winter, and the gun was a Ruger P89 9mm.

As a new shooter I made a mistake and after shooting the first round the magazine fell out of the gun because I hadn’t seated the magazine firmly.

That’s when Dad took control and showed me how to load it the right way.

And over the next year, as I practiced more and more at that range and out behind my grandfather’s grain bins (under his watchful eyes) on the farm, I became better and better at shooting an array of firearms.

In fact, it’s how I teach my kids to shoot today – under my direct oversight, hands on, patiently teaching them how to improve one step at a time.

Isn’t that how we all learned?

Isn’t that how we want all our children to be taught?

The person who best knows when a child is ready for the responsibility of being taught how to shoot a defensive firearm isn’t some bureaucrat in a governmental office, and it’s not a politician in Des Moines!

It’s you – the fathers and mothers of our Iowa children.

But if the politicians in Des Moines have their way, they will continue the practice of making you a criminal for not getting their approval for making this very personal decision.

In fact, under this code section you would be guilty of a serious misdemeanor, a “crime” that could see you fined almost $2,000 and put in jail for up to 364 days!

I’m sure that you’re outraged, as I am, when you think about this. Many of you are likely thinking, “It’s not going to stop me.” And you’re right – following silly rules like this one that are shoved down your throat is ridiculous.

But it’s vital you take action on this and let the members of the Public Safety Committee know that voting for this language, however they try to posture it, is hostile to your gun rights.

The politicians will tell you that this bill is a step in the right direction as it tweaks the ages on when you can teach your own children to shoot a handgun.

Don’t be fooled, it’s polishing brass on a sinking ship – and they know it.

They are hoping to make the smallest of adjustments, (still making you and I criminals for teaching our children to shoot,) so they can go around their districts later this year telling you and I how they “fought to defend the 2nd Amendment.”

The good news is that pro-gun champion, Representative Tom Shaw, is going to be amending this bill to allow parents to decide when to teach their children to defend themselves.

The amendment will be filed and heard in the House Public Safety Committee, likely this week, and so your immediate action is necessary.

Please call and then email the members of the committee using the information belowand insist that they support the Shaw Amendment to HF2012!

Remind them that parents are the only ones who can decide what’s best for their children and that only big-government bureaucrats would dare tell parents when they can train their children to defend themselves!

Please make you calls and email right away, the voting on this amendment to HF2012 could happen at any time.

Feel free to use the suggested email below if you prefer.

Please forward this to all of your pro-gun friends and encourage them to make calls as well!

For Freedom,Aaron DorrExecutive Director

P.S. The House Public Safety Committee is about to vote on HF2012 – a bill that continues the practice of making you a criminal for teaching your son or daughter how to shoot a handgun before some government bureaucrat decides that they are ready.

For this “crime” you would be facing up to a year in jail and a fine of $1,875 – all for simply teaching your children how to defend themselves against a violent criminal.

But Representative Tom Shaw will be amending this terrible bill to remove any restrictions on when parents can teach their children to shoot a handgun!

So please contact the members of the House Public Safety Committee TODAY and insist that they support the Shaw Amendment to HF2012.

You may use the suggested email language below when contacting these legislators.

Dear Representative,

Under current Iowa code 724.22 section 5, I can be criminally charged for the “crime” of teaching my minor children how to shoot a handgun for self-defense.

No one knows better than I do when my child is ready for this responsibility – certainly not a politician in Des Moines.

HF2012 would continue this anti-gun portion of Iowa code. That’s why I’m writing to urge you to vote YES on the amendment that Rep. Tom Shaw will be offering to HF2012.

This amendment would end the practice of making responsible parents criminally liable for teaching their children to shoot a handgun.

If this amendment fails in the committee, then I would urge you to vote NO on HF2012.

News from Other States

Upcoming Gun Shows

As we work around the clock in the Capitol trying to advance Stand-Your-Ground law, we’re also working hard to come to as many gun shows as we can. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for you and other gun owners to make your voices heard! We need your help. Liberal media outlets from Council Bluffs to Cedar Rapids are working overtime to kill this legislation with